After moving from Blackburn Rovers to Ipswich Town in the summer, Sammie Szmodics is savouring every chance he gets to play in the Premier League.

The 29-year-old has played frequently in League One and League Two and has worked hard his entire career to get here.

He finally got the chance to play in the top division by joining the Blues last season thanks to his incredible play. Despite the fact that he can already tell the quality of the game is higher than in the second division, he is adamant that he is enjoying every minute of it.

What Sammie says about it all

“The Premier League, obviously the best players in the world want to play in it,” he explained.

“For me, going into games, I feel like laughing. It’s my dream, I’m here. Every week is like the Manchester City game where you’re prepping all week, you’re in meetings. The lads probably feel the same in the changing room. “We’re going through individual clips on Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland. You’re thinking that these guys are superstars.

“We’ve got to realise that we’re in the same league as them. For example, when you play against West Ham, they’re just West Ham to us now, they’re not just a Premier League team. We’re exactly the same.

“You have to stay focused. The intensity is 10 times harder than Championship level. You have to stay focused for much longer.
“There’s a lot more than goes into Premier League games in terms of details and individuals compared to the Championship.

“You might only get one chance in a Premier League game that you need to take. In the Championship, you’ll get five for six. It’s all about being clinical in both boxes.”